


Love and Produce

by socially_anxious_slytherin



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Awkward Carlos, Carlos is a Dork, Fluff, M/M, Romance, but no promises, carlos meets cecil in a grocery store, probably no smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-23 12:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3769165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socially_anxious_slytherin/pseuds/socially_anxious_slytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of all the strange things in the Nightvale Grocery Store, Carlos fell in love with the strangest man there, the mysterious Cecil Palmer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Carlos hated the Nightvale grocery store. Every day the various produce and good rearranged themselves in a new nonsensical order of their own volition. There were no signs to mark the contents of the isles except for a large, hovering, purple sign at the entrance bearing the words “Good Luck” in slightly darker purple paint. But, unfortunately, this was pretty much the only place to buy food in Nightvale so Carlos endured. A scientist had to eat, after all. As Carlos determinedly searched the store in pursuit of spaghetti noodles he noticed a strange sight near the back of the building.  
There was a man wearing a white shirt underneath a bright purple vest with blindingly white hair. His ebony skin appeared without any blemishes even under the harsh light of the grocery store. He was also incomprehensibly beautiful. Even in the mans peculiar current state of attempting to wrestle a bag of potatoes into the waistband of his pinstriped pants his beauty was undeniable. Somehow, it appeared, the potatoes were trying to fight back against the man in order to join its produce siblings in wildly traversing the chaotic store. The man clearly had a great yearning for potatoes as he did not show the slightest hint of resignation in his mission to attain the starchy delicacy. Carlos decided that he should offer this breathtakingly gorgeous man some assistance in his predicament.  
He rushed over to the man and looked at him, then the wild potatoes with a sense of urgency.  
“Um, excuse me, it kinda looked like you needed some help here?! What exactly is happening, anyways?”  
The man gazed up at Carlos with a surprisingly calm expression, while still intensely struggling with the potatoes he began to speak in the most beautiful voice that Carlos had ever had the pleasure of hearing, “Oh, not a big deal, just the usual grocery procedure. Fight the produce or starve is their slogan ya'know.”  
It took Carlos a moment to respond, he was struck by how beautiful the man made such ordinary words sound. It was as if he spun each word with extreme precision to emphasize it's linguistic elegance. Before he could compose himself the man finally accomplished his arduous task and secured the potatoes in his pants.  
“There we go,” he said proudly.  
With his attention now no longer needing to be focused on potatoes he took his first good look at Carlos, who had still not recovered from both the spectacle in front of him and the majesty of the mans voice. The man now comprehended the pure exquisiteness that Carlos possessed. From his sharper-than-glass jawline to his alluring, innocent brown eyes: Carlos radiated utter perfection. He fumbled in his mind for a relevant thing to say to the perfect stranger and could only settle on one piece of information, “Um, my name is Cecil!” He said abruptly.  
Confused by Cecil's sudden change in behavior Carlos responded “Oh, I'm Carlos, nice to meet you.”  
Cecil nodded and attempted to regain his conversational footing,  
“So, um, are you new to town? I know most of the people here and I don't seem to recognize you,” beginning to feel confident Cecil added, “And I think I would remember someone as remarkable as yourself,” he finished his subtle flirt with a slight smile.  
Carlos blushed and lightened his insecure demeanor, “Yes I am new to Nightvale, I'm a scientist and I must say that this town is the most scientifically interesting place I have ever visited,” then, returning Cecil's affections he looked him up and down then suggestively said, “And there's a lot of research I'd like to do.”  
Cecil smiled charmingly and said, “Well, if I can ever assist you in conducting some research make sure you call me.”  
He then bent slightly over his shopping cart, retrieving a scrap of paper and a pen from his strained pocket, and wrote down his number. As he sauntered over to Carlos and placed it in his large hands their skin brushed for a moment and they both knew that they would need more of that soon. Then Cecil, with his pants still bulging immensely from the sack of potatoes imprisoned inside of them, strolled away from Carlos and chimed over his shoulder, “Hope to see you soon!”  
Carlos stood still in his fateful spot in the store in wonderment. Less than a week in this crazy town and he already had cute men flirting with him. To his embarrassment he found that now he and Cecil both sported large protrusions in their pants, except that Carlos' was not from potatoes, but rather something resembling a banana. Carlos smiled sheepishly, glad that no one was around to see him and desperately wished it would disappear, yet his inability to stop thinking about that beautiful stranger made it near impossible.  
When he had finally ridded himself of his non-produce protrusion, he quickly gathered the food he needed, payed for it, and rushed out into the merciless heat of the desert. Night had descended upon the town while he had been in the store and the dubiously hanging moon greeted Carlos with it's pale light. He hurriedly unloaded his groceries and sped off down the sand-weathered road, leading him towards the promise of a new start.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos returns home unable to sleep and finds out some new information about the man filling his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a pretty short chapter, thanks for the positive feedback on the first chapter!

By the time Carlos got home it was late, too late, he figured for it to be appropriate to call Cecil. He tried to go to bed but he couldn't coerce his mind to stop thinking about that mysterious man. Anytime he tried to focus on sleep his mind seemed to perform the same action as the elusive bag of potatoes at the store. Violently pulling him away from his attempts at sleep and urging him towards imaginations of Cecil. Eventually he found sleep to be futile and decided to turn on the radio, TV privileges were only allowed to citizens who had lived in Nightvale for at least three months and who had donated at least three pints of blood to each, individual member of the city council. 

He turned the radio on carefully in the dim light, brushing his long, curly, black hair out of the way, and tuned it to the local community station. A breathy, uneasy voice spoke loudly from the radio and announced that the station would be playing a repeat of the daily news due to the fact that it was three in the morning and everyone is already busy pretending to sleep and if you can hear me you are already breaking several city ordinances but hey, we don't judge, so listen to something you rebel insomniac. 

Nightvale was a... quirky town, Carlos decided internally. He settled in and waited for the blasé drone of municipal announcements to soothe him into sleep.  
“This desert is vast, even endless, yet scientists tell us that even now, there is snow,” crooned a familiarly smooth voice, emanating from the radio. Carlos sat straight up and craned his ear towards the radio. The voice continued “The Nightvale tourism boards 'visitable Nightvale' campaign has kicked off with posters, encouraging folks to take their family on a scenery filled jaunt through the trails of Radon Canyon...” 

Carlos seized the radio off his desk and stuck his ear up against it, craving more of that voice like a librarian craves flesh. He sat intently and savored every word that the beautiful man uttered. He let the announcements of the tumult and chaos of Nightvale wash over him like a pleasant shower. Cecil's voice seemed to drift all over Carlos' body, warming and calming him as he spoke peacefully and gracefully about less than peaceful events. 

Carlos listened to the entirety of the broadcast before turning the radio off and lying down in a giddy haze. Why had Cecil not told him about his job on the radio? Did he not want to give Carlos a biased impression of himself? Perhaps Cecil thought that if his radio career was known he would be treated differently by Carlos, fame was not a frequent thing in Nightvale but Cecil seemed to be about as close as you could get. The thought of Cecil attempting to remain modest in his presence was immensely cute to Carlos. 

With a stupid smile on his stubble-covered face, Carlos pulled the covers up around his long body and planned out how he would get to see Cecil again, he knew he could call him but that just seemed so straightforward and eager. Plus, Carlos felt like he would be more confident and eloquent in Cecil's presence, despite the man's astonishing attractiveness something about his worldliness and composure seemed to ground Carlos and make him feel calm. When he finally came up with a perfect, scientifically secure plan, Carlos noticed the singular sun greeting him from outside his lab/apartment window. He'd gotten no sleep at all and now had even less time to execute his plan. Carlos sprung out of bed, rushing to the bathroom and taking a hasty shower, then moderately taming his unruly, shoulder-length hair. He pulled on a clean, red flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, then slipped on his favorite white lab coat. With a quick spritz of cologne Carlos ran out the door and towards the radio station, with only one thing-or rather, person, on his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos plans to surprise Cecil during his broadcast, but in a town like Nightvale things aren't likely to go as planned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a while to post, it is a bit longer than the others.  
> Thanks again for all the feedback!! <3

With all of Carlos' planning and rigorous scientific analyzation he had thought his plan would be impenetrable and smooth. Unfortunately, Carlos was still assuming that he was in a normal town where things would go normally. 

The labcoated scientist stood at the doors of the Nightvale Community Radio Station with a perplexed look on his face. Upon arriving at the station he had naturally gone to open the doors yet had found them as unbudging as a door-to-door salesman. The doors were made out of pure obsidian making them completely opaque and preventing Carlos from motioning to anyone inside. Adjusting for changes Carlos concluded that there was only one way he could continue on with his plan, even if it did remove the element of surprise he had been hoping for. 

Carlos pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and scrolled down to Cecil's name. (he had inputted the number right after getting into the car the night before, so anxious and anticipatory about the possible future he might have with this man.) After two rings Cecil picked up and Carlos experienced the same euphoria that he always did upon hearing that mellifluous, smooth voice. 

“I'm not sure who this is, or if you're aware that I am currently trying to do a radio show, but I think we should both familiarize ourselves with each of these facts in order for us to understand each others position and obligations,” Said Cecil, somewhat irritably yet still graceful.  
“Oh, um, I'm sorry. This is Carlos, the scientist. I needed to come on your show to talk about some significant science in Nightvale but, um, I'm stuck at the door,” a small silence followed before Carlos added “I now realize that everyone listening to your broadcast just heard that and I now feel exceedingly awkward.”  
“Oh, um, I'll be right there! Stay right where you are I’ll be just a sec,” Said Cecil. His voice had audibly changed after realizing the man on the phone was Carlos, losing the brazen confidence from his greeting and transforming into an infatuated stutter. “Listeners, I'll be right back,” Cecil mumbled into the mic before disconnecting the phone call.

Approximately thirty seconds later the thick door in front of Carlos swung back to reveal Cecil, looking somewhat surprised yet also trying (noticeably) hard to maintain the guise of composedness. “Come on in,” Said Cecil, gesturing with his intricately, purple tattooed hands.

Carlos followed close behind Cecil, feeling awkward as the other workers at the station stared at him while he walked by. The station had a quite simple design consisting of one large, purple tiled hallway stretching on till the end of the building. On each side of the hall there were small, cube-shaped studios, each having their own unique collection of personal memorabilia. Carlos was almost positive he saw a pair of nail clippers on a shrine in one studio but he was walking too fast to notice. At two intervals in the wall there were break rooms which only had a single bloodstone circle (as Carlos had learned they were called) lying in the center. In the very middle of the hall, chained into the left wall was a ten foot tall set of doors that seemed to be both bright and dark at the same time. When Carlos looked at them he began to feel despair and hopelessness beyond belief. He stopped and almost fell to the ground before Cecil pulled him along saying “That's the entrance to station management, best not to look at it for too long if you don't have to.” 

Carlos shook his head lightly and blinked a few times before nodding and continuing along. At the end of the hallway laid Cecil's station. It was the only one not built into the side of the wall and seemed considerably larger than the others. Before Carlos had time to question him about it Cecil was already seated with his mouth up to the microphone. 

“Sorry about that listeners, but I have a very special guest! Here with me today is Carlos the scientist, a new resident to Nightvale who has been gracious enough to say that our little town is one of the most scientifically interesting places in America! He's informed me that he has some very significant scientific discoveries about Nightvale that he needs to share with us today. What do you have to tell us Carlos?” 

Carlos hesitated for a moment before realizing that was his cue to go on. Taking the seat opposite Cecil and grabbing a microphone he began, “Uh, yes, well I have been researching the sun and moon cycle in Nightvale and have noticed that it has considerably deviated from the normal times allotted for each stage. There seems to be no pattern whatsoever for the times each celestial body appears, we've documented the sun staying up for twenty hours one day, we've seen the sun and moon interchange every hour on the hour, and we've noted the moon appearing for three full days before releasing reign to the sun. This is completely unprecedented and should be throwing the Circadian Rhythms of all residents completely out of order. Everyone in Nightvale should, from a purely scientific standpoint, have no idea as to when to be awake and when to be asleep leaving the entire community in a state of sleep-deprived disarray. Yet somehow everyone seems to retire to bed and wake up at approximately the same time every day no matter the antics of the sun and moon. This is extremely perplexing and frustrating for a scientist.” 

Cecil sat silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth to speak, “Um, Carlos I know you're new to town but... everyone knows that the sun and moon are free spirits. We aren't the boss of them, they pretty much do whatever they want. As for the Circadian rhythm thing the City Council manipulated all of our genes to give us an intrinsic sense of when to sleep and when to wake up, it happened like, two hundred years ago...” Cecil finished awkwardly. 

“Oh, well, that's nice to know,” Carlos had been hoping to pose a thought-provoking scientific anomaly to impress Cecil but instead he had just embarrassed himself for the entire town to hear. He blushed and looked down at the floor without saying anything else.  
Cecil looked at Carlos concernedly before quickly turning to the microphone, “Listeners, it may seem a bit early but at this point I must take you to... the weather.” He slipped a cd into the audio deck on his desk then stood up and walked over to Carlos. 

“Hey, it's okay. You're new in town, it was an easy mistake,” Said Cecil, placing his arms on Carlos' shoulders and dipping his head to look into Carlos' cast-down eyes.  
“I know it's just,” Carlos contemplated his dialogue options before deciding that he had nothing left to lose after that huge embarrassment, he might as well just go out on a limb, “-It's just, I was hoping to impress you,” Carlos blurted out before turning his head away from Cecil.  
Now it was Cecil's turn to blush, “C-Carlos, you impressed me the moment I first saw you, I couldn't even comprehend how beautiful you were, you're the most unique and gorgeous thing I've ever seen and look at the town I live in.”  
Carlos turned his head back to face Cecil with a hopeful look on his face, “Really? I was so worried that I would just make a fool of myself and you would never talk to me.”  
“Oh, precious Carlos, even if the city council cut off my tongue I would still find a way to talk to you.”  
They stood like this, smiling at each other in relieved bliss for a few moments before Cecil looked at his recording equipment.  
“Oh! I have to go back on very soon! Um, listen Carlos, I can't really talk right now but how about you meet me at Big Rico's pizza tonight at seven? I know it's not really the fanciest place but you'll never have a better slice of wheat-free pizza.”  
“That sounds wonderful,” Carlos said.  
Cecil nodded excitedly with a lovey grin on his face and then plopped down into his chair to continue his broadcast.  
“See you soon, Cecil,” Carlos called as he walked out of the studio, using all his self-control not to skip down the halls of the station singing.

**Author's Note:**

> Creative criticism appreciated and greatly encouraged!!!


End file.
